PAT move to form alliance with PPP

With the October, 2002, elections having already produced some rather unlikely alliances, a new one between the Pakistan Awami Tehrik (PAT) and the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) seems to be on the anvil.

While PAT, led by Allama Tahirul Qadri, has in the past opposed leadership by a woman and is also seen as a conservative party. Qadri is now reported to have made an offer of cooperation to Benazir Bhutto, the PPP leader.

This is said to have come about after the PAT carried out a detailed study of results in the recent civic polls and decided that the PPP was the only major party that could help it make gains at various levels across the country.

During these elections, PAT had picked up significant votes, but rarely enough to earn it a parliamentary seat.

According to a report published in the English-language daily, The News‚ Qadri has already approached Makhdoom Amin Fahim of the PPP about setting up an alliance.

The press officer of PAT was reluctant to confirm this agreement had been reached, but conceded progress towards this was being made.

Several senior PPP leaders have also stated that there is a possibility of cooperation with PAT, but stressed that the final decision will be left to Benazir Bhutto.

PAT is also said to be contacting legal experts on whether any election coalition should be formed with the PPP or the new parliamentarian wing of the party, which has applied for registration with the election commission of Pakistan.

Until recently, PAT had been allied with several pro-government parties.

However, leaders of the group as well as donors are said to have brought to Qadri's attention the fact that such an alliance was unlikely to bring positive results.

The severe internal criticism has resulted in a marked change in PAT strategy, with the group now anxious to link up only with major parties.

While Qadri continues to maintain he backs President Pervez Musharraf, he has made a deliberate effort to distance himself from the regime.

One reason for this is the indication that other religious groups were lining up against the party, apart from the criticism that was coming Qadri's way from within PAT.

The Muttahida Mahaz-e-Amal (MMA), a powerful coalition of at least 10 religious groups including the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), had earlier rejected a bid by Qadri to join the coalition.

Qadri's views in favour of Musharraf's policies on militancy and on Kashmir were thought to be a major factor in this decision. Qadri has also been accused by other religious parties of helping the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) interrogate captured Al Qaida suspects.

Following the rejection by the MMA, Qadri has been looking for allies with increased desperation. Despite being one of the most powerful electoral forces, the PPP had also failed to make any pre-election alignments until now.

Following the collapse of its efforts to link up with the Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) after the election of Shahbaz Sharif as its head, the PPP was said to be searching for viable allies.

A formal announcement of the new coalition is expected within days. It is also likely that a campaign plan will be announced immediately after this.

So far, only the well-organised MMA has made its electoral plans public, and has stated it will kick off its campaign with a rally on Wednesday.

With PAT now clearly aligning with groups opposed to the regime, it is clear that President Musharraf is being left with extremely few political allies.

Even Imran Khan, chief of the Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaaf (PTI), in a recent interview, came out with a fierce attack on the military regime for failing to stem corruption, and it is thought this is also an indication that like PAT, the PTI is also seeking to keep some distance with the military government.